Westinghouse

Im using a hdmi from my directv receiver to my tv. My directv is set to 5.1 audio so Im using my 5.1 receiver for sound. I dont use my tv speakers much but i noticed if their on and somethings in 5.1 when using this hdmi cable they sizzle. I went into my directv and turned the 5.1 off then sound from tv speakers played fine. Anyone know why. Its a new westinghouse 32 inch. So I justed turned my tv speakers off and turnrd 5.1 back on. It only sizzles if Im using my tv speakers and its a 5.1 broadcast.

Many TVs that accept HDMI understandably default to 2 channels or no channels for audio. Your Westinghouse is probably equipped to decode only 2 channels and ignore the rest of the 5.1 information. But it seems to be processing at least some of this extra data through the TV speakers as noise. The HDMI TV connection in general still has some kinks, and it's not terribly surprising that manufacturers don't always pay it proper attention, since most users divert audio from the source to a separate audio system. Either disable the TV speakers or change from 5.1 on the satellite receiver to 2 whenever audio is to be confined to the TV. If having to push that many buttons puts you on edge, maybe it will help to know that other people have HDMI problems that are a lot worse. Some Panasonic plasmas, for instance, seem to suffer from chronic audio dropouts when receiving audio from HDMI, no matter what the setting on the source.